BEIJING, May 22 -- US defense and intelligence officials say the Sejil-2 missile is similar in design and range to missiles Iran has launched in previous years. But they add that it is too early to tell if it demonstrated any new capabilities.

    Nearly eight hours after it was announced by the Iranian President the US Defense Secretary provided the first official US confirmation of the Iranian launch.

    Robert Gates, US Defense Secretary, said, "The information that I have read indicates that it was a successful flight test. The missile will have a range

    of approximately 200 to 2, 500 kilometers. Because of some of the problems they've had with their engines, we think at least at this stage of the testing, it is probably closer to the lower end of that range.

    Whether it hit the target that it was intended for, I have not seen any information on that."

    US officials said government analysts and other specialists were still assessing information from the launch, including the range, fuel and other details.

    US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, reiterated that the administration opposes Iran getting a nuclear weapons capability.

    Hillary Clinton, US Secretary of State, said, "A nuclear-armed Iran with a deliverable weapons system is going to spark an arms race in the Middle East and the greater region. That is not going to be in the interest of Iranian security and we believe that we have a very strong case to make for that."

    The US accuses Iran of secretly developing nuclear weapons under the cover of a civil nuclear program. But Iran denies the claims.

(Source: CCTV.com)